Let's start over
by LittleMissMidnight
Summary: Its ok to get a little tired. Its ok to slow own and rest. Let the whole world judge you all they want. They can't see what you see. They can't feel what you feel. They have no right to tell you what to do with your life. There is no rush to get back up onto your feet. And Alain being the brother he is, will remind Ash of that and even himself. A AU where Ash and Alain are brothers


**A/N:** I'm surprised people enjoy these two. What a sight. Anyway this is a AU where Ash and Alain and brothers as I like to ship them in a platonic manner from time to time. It's a idea that has stuck to me even before I shipped them. I think this idea isn't new as I've read many fics in the past where Red and Ash were brothers, so this concept isn't new. Still, I hope you can have the time to read this. Thank you!

* * *

Notes scattered across his desk, notes and scribbled notes nearly took up every space in-between each paragraph. Some of them were written in black or blue as red was left to either cross out mistakes or used to correct past ideas. Some of his notes began to fall towards the ground and the pens slowly started to roll off, going them.

The laptop's screen play a forever looping screensaver with a set number of coloured lines, swirling from one corner to another endlessly. His reading glasses set aside near his snacks and a empty cup that was once filled with coffee.

A young man was by the desk, his body leaning onto his desk, eyes closed as his black hair gently covered his face. The quietness of his slumber was quickly disturbed when the suddenly high pitch of his ring tone filled up the room.

He didn't move at first, even if his eyes were clearly open. He couldn't help but start to wonder how long he had been out for or how long he had been working on his latest research papers. Sitting upright he could see his notes either scattered on his table or the floor. The painful reminder of last night hit him.

"Mega Evolution stones and Z Crystals…there is a connection, I'm sure of it."

Butt after skim reading over his many notes and letting his ringtone pass him by he finally understood why they kept him up all night. But the idea of starting of collecting his notes from his all-nighter seemed too much of a bother right now as he laid his head on his desk once more.

"One changes a Pokémon's shape and typing, the other powers a move up. Surely they must share the same origin."

The young researcher leaned back in his chair as his phone rang up once again, filling the empty room with rather loud music. Leaning for his chair he could see the phone's screen was lit up with the name and a face of the caller.

He squinted his eyes as he took in a moment before answering the call.

"What now?"

"Hey there Alain, can I crash at your place tonight?"

Alain cringed at the idea of his younger brother staying over at his place. It wasn't that he disliked him staying at his place, it was the fact he could never get any of his work done as Ash was just a massive distraction for him. But he couldn't help but feel flattered that he would rather stay with him - his older brother - rather than someone he was more closer with, such as their mother.

"So, why me?" Alain couldn't help but ask as he put the call on loudspeaker as he closed his eyes for a moment to relax a little more.

"…you didn't see the league results then, did you?"

Alain felt like he wanted to slap himself for that brief moment. Of all days, he couldn't believe he slept through his brother's league performance. After all the hype he was giving for everyone to watch it, he should have been one of those people to _not_ miss it.

"I'm sorry Ash, I got caught up in my work again."

"Seriously, you need to catch yourself a break."

"I try but I feel like I'm onto something. I can't help but work on it, until I at least get some sort of closure."

"Anyway I'm coming over."

"Aren't you even-"

The call ended before Alain could put a single word in as sighed and slumped deeper into his chair. He gazed at his home office and could see the room was slowly turning into a shade of rich orange as she spun around and gazed at the scene before him.

"…I'm guessing things didn't work out as planned." Glancing over his shoulders he noticed the papers that had the most mistakes on it, thanks due to the amount of red markings that were all over it. "Yeah, sounds just about right."

* * *

After cleaning up his office it was now the kitchen that had Alain's full attention. The smell of home cooked meals filled in the whole apartment as the news from the T.V filled in for some background noise. The sizzling of the pan, the buzzing sound of a microwave and the sound of vegetables getting chopped against the solid sound of a wooden chopping board.

What sound of been a normal night where he would use T.V dinners and cups of instant noodles to get him by was replaced with a chore he didn't too much of. The idea of someone coming over always made it seem worth while to cook instead of getting take-out all the time. Although the idea was tempting and wasn't something new either, as half the time Ash would come over they were always tempted to get some takeout. Foods ranging from Mexican to Chinese, they didn't both care as Ash would always eat for two whenever he got full or tired of eating.

"So, Ash didn't sound like his regular self today?"

"Afraid not, when we were talking it sounded like talking to me or anyone required too much effort."

"Gees, that isn't like him at all."

The beeping sounds of the microwave put Alain's response on hold as the woman on the other end of his call waited for his answer.

With mittens on and the hot bowl in his hands, "Yeah but his always like this after losing a league. I think I made it worse by trading that for my research."

Wanting to move on from the touchy subject the woman moved onto the topic of Alain cooking's. "So, since when did you learn to cook? You never seem to be the chef when we were travelling together!"

Putting the call now on loudspeaker, Alain did his best to talk over the sound of the onions and garlics sizzling wilding in the frying pan.

"You were such a brat that cooking for you wasn't worth it half the time Marin."

"OH COME ON ALAIN." Marin stressed. Alain could already imagine the woman pouting at his words.

Alain chuckled at Marin's words as he could hear her grumbling at her end of the call. Soon enough, the doorbell rang before hearing the door getting unlocked seconds later. The sounds of bags being tossed to the ground and a giant thud on the couch told Alain who was ready to crash at his place tonight.

"Anyway Marin, thanks again for helping me with the mega evolution and Z-Crystals thing." Alain reached over and turned off the loud speaker option for a brief moment. "The information you give me really helps."

"Sure, but don't worry about any of that tonight. I think Ash needs some help getting up again."

The young man leaned forward on his bench table to take a peek on the teenager that was lying still on his couch. "Yeah, but this one might have actually taken a toll on him this time. I hope Mum helped him in some regard."

* * *

"Hey."

"…Hey."

Alain kept on staring down at his brother as he lied to one side, one pillow covering his face and while he buried his face into another.

"You might die if you keep covering your face like that." Alain reached to remove one of the pillows but to no avail. Annoyed, he kept on talking. "What did you say to Mum?"

"Just the usual stuff."

Alain knew he was getting nowhere with Ash tonight.

"Can you at least say something nice about the effort I went to cook you dinner?."

"…you didn't need to do that. You know that."

Sitting on the arm of the sofa, "And you can tell that _by_?"

Still refusing to move the pillows from his face. "I can tell by the amount of empty trays and noodle cups that are by your rubbish bin."

"Well _sure,_ but there are only so much of that stuff that I can live off before I grow tired of it."

Alain looked down and noticed Ash wasn't saying anything back. This was unusual for him to stay this quiet. If he was like this all the time then, he could be able to invite Ash more often and do his work without getting distracted by the silly things Ash would do in the middle of his working hours.

"…so…how bad was it?"

Silence came at first, then the shuffling of pillows before any words were heard from Ash.

"Ash." Alain spoke up in a stern manner. Even now that Ash had grown into his teens he still felt he was still a child inside.

Irritated at the little answers he was getting from him Alain quickly swiped one of the pillows from Ash's face to only discover the reason why he was hiding his face from him all this time.

He was crying.

Knowing the pillow was gone Ash tried to hide his face from his brother before noticing it was already too late. He sat up but his back was facing Alain.

"…I got smashed. I got kicked out in the finals…again."

The older brother had no words to say - well, not anything good enough to gather right at this moment.

"Sometimes I wished I could be like you. You know, work with Professor Sycamore and be great at battling and in science research and all. I wish had a simple dream like you or Mum. But no, I had to go for the impossible one because I admire a Dad that is never around, I based my dream on a fleeting fairy tale."

"And who said my work was any easier than yours?"

With his back still facing his brother's. "I don't know, maybe something called _life."_

"You've lost leagues before and you were never this down. So what's up with this attitude of yours that you have to go and start insulting my field of work?" Alain's tone in voice raised, but not enough to make it sound like they were having a argument. But Alain didn't know how much longer he could contain himself and remain calm.

"Wow, _thanks_ for rubbing it in." Ash wrapped his arms around his legs, hiding his face behind his knees.

Standing up, "You know, talking to you is leading us nowhere. I'm going to come back when your salt levels go down."

And with that, he took his leave.

* * *

The desk lamp glowed as the sound of pens scratching paper and keys quickly being pressed on the keyboard filled his office once more. Books left opened with doggy-ear tabs on them and sticky notes were used as his bookmarks. The smell of coffee filled up his room before Alain noticed he was all out.

But the amount of mistakes and typos he was making was much more than usual. He normally never spent so long on one idea of trying to reworked it when he knew and had evidence that the answer he had wasn't correct.

Taking off his reading glasses he knew that his work was fine, it was just his destroyed little brother that was getting to him.

"And once again, you're distracting me again." the man sighed before standing up. He glanced at his empty coffee mug. "At this rate I'll be needing more than coffee."

Guiding himself through the dim lit apartment Alain picked up the smell of food in his house. He glanced at the stovetop to make sure nothing was burning before noticing it was no other but Ash eating the food he had cooked just a few hours earlier. He glanced at the wall clock and saw it was just passed midnight. The food he had cooked wasn't something you would have for a midnight snack.

With the T.V on with a lamp nearby the young researcher could see a boy under a quilt sitting on the floor with a bowl of food and juice sitting by the coffee table. Without noticing him he reached out for another mug besides his own and began to make a drink for the both of them. It didn't take very long for him to be sit beside him.

Only the sounds of the presenters on the television kept them from both drowning in silence.

"Drink the hot chocolate before it goes cold."

Still finishing the leftovers Ash glanced at the hot drink before pausing for a moment. Putting the bowl aside he held the mug in both of his hands while still focusing all his attention to the T.V while blowing occasionally into his hot drink.

Stirring his own drink, "So, you want to talk now?"

Taking his first sip from his drink his brother had made for him. "Maybe."

"I know you didn't mean to insult my work like that. This isn't like you Ash."

Alain had a feeling that Ash knew that as well. He watched as Ash put his drink down and finally faced him.

"I'm not going to lie. What I said was wrong and should have never said those things." He held onto his quilt's edges as he kept on talking. "It's just, that…"

Slumping down, Alain kept on waiting for Ash to finish.

"It's just some of the guys there, they were insulting your win at the Kalos league."

Alain's eyes widen. That was the last thing he expected to hear about again. He knew it couldn't be helped that people would talk about his win from time to time. And whenever Ash would speak about it, he would act more proudly and confident that him, as if he had won it himself instead.

"Normally I would let that stuff slip by but then they started to talk down on you. Like that time when you didn't know you were working for Lysandre and Team Flare and nearly turning Kalos into a huge graveyard." Alain noticed how tightly Ash was holding the sheet that was covering his whole body.

"They were talking things like you were the villain and so many things I don't want to repeat. And so when I faced those guys and beat most of them in the league, it felt good and I felt like I was telling them off for painting you like a bad guy. But when I lost to the last one…it felt horrible. Like his twisted perception of you was right and I was wrong all this time when that's a lie. I've known you all my life! I know you didn't mean any of that stuff back then! _I know_!"

The young researcher could see Ash was on the verge of tears again. He had no idea Ash felt this passionate towards him and his win at the Kalos league many years ago. Ash returned his gaze back to the T.V.

"After all you did, you didn't need to be treated like that."

"Ash…I…I."

Where could he even start? Here he was, thinking and annoyed that every time his brother would come along would provide nothing but a distraction when he should of known better that wasn't the case. He never thought to see things through his eyes and how hard it must be to win the league after he had. The expectation, the pressure. He had been doing this longer than he had and then in one go, he was able to take it all.

Him and Ash entered the league together but he entered it late due to his work that he was doing for the Professor. Then he got side tracked with the introduction of Lysandre to his life and the greed to get stronger because it was the only way to protect his friends blind sighted him. The feeling of winning the league never sunk in him because right after the trophy was handed over, hell broke loose.

"If you think I feel bad to losing to you in the league, then your wrong. To be honest, I would of not had it any other way. Me, losing to my brother who was Kalos champion and still is. That is something more awesome and worth holding than holding some grudge. I get to learn and grow stronger from the champion himself, even if his more into research notes than battling."

Ash kept on talking as Alain watched on. "I'll win someday, just you watch. And when I do you'll be the first person I'll thank alongside with Mum. I'm going to say to everyone when I receive the trophy that me winning was thanks to all the hard work you taught me until up to that point."

Ash held both his hands into the air, "And then there will be this big sign saying _'Ash vs Alain. The battle of the century. League champion vs League champion. Who will come out on top?_ '"

Alain say there in utter silence as Ash continued to explain his dream to him before watching him slowly break down in front of him.

"And it will be great…the crowd will be cheering my name or yours…the battle will be tough of course…and our Pokémon…Pokémon will be battling and…a-and…a-andd"

Reaching for his brother's wrist, "That's enough." he pulled Ash into his arms for a light embrace. "You don't have to impress anyone here. I don't mind what they say to me. Don't work yourself up so hard to defend me. We both know the truth."

Tears soon came crashing into Alain's top as he tried to calm the teenager down.

"I know you'll be that league champion one day. I'm sure you'll be given that chance to clear out my name to the non-believers still out there that the destruction of Kalos that day was my fault. And then when that is all over and you've cleared my name out, we can have that ultimate battle you speak of."

Alain closed his eyes and took a few breaths to calm himself. "And then the battle will be amazing. Like the final battle could be against my Charizard verse yours. Maybe we could have a rematch with Greninja instead. It will be amazing and I can't wait for that day to come."

Pulling away from his brother, "that sounds like a great plan." Ash chuckled lightly.

Alain joined in before calming down, "Now you got me all excited for that." He paused for a moment. "But look, take your time with that dream of yours. I'm sure there will be days you'll miss all the peace and quiet and a day where the media isn't chasing your tail."

"I guess, but the league is done and dusted for a whole year. I don't know where to head to now next."

"Well then, your in luck."

Alain noticed the puzzled look on his brother's face. "There is this place in Alola where they have something called Z-Crystals. They have this weird power where they can power up a certain move as long the longer using it is the same type of that move. I want to research if the mega stones and these Z-Crystals are connected or come from the same source. Of course I can't do that behind my desk."

"Alola, never heard of it." Ash spoke as he dried his tears away.

"Well its a small place with many islands. I'm sure they don't have leagues there but that have something of equal worth. You wanna see if you got a shot over there? Maybe if you do, we might have that battle a little sooner than you thought."

Feeling a little better about himself now, Ash put one a soft smile, "I'm _so_ going to beat you when that time comes." He glanced at the T.V screen once more. "Maybe we could take Mum there and make it a family holiday for a month of two. Maybe invite Marin or Professor Sycamore to come along?" He looked back at Alain. "But the main question here is can you not let your research get a hold of you for a couple of months."

"Well, I can't promise anything but I do promise to try. After all, that's what matters in the end. As long you did your best then we can all sleep a little more easier at night."

Ash wrapped his arms around his knees and rested his head on his knees. "I won't lie. It still hurts but who knows, maybe going to Alola is what I need right now."

"And after all the failed notes and ideas I've been getting lately. I think its something we both need right now." Alain joined in.

Reaching for his hot drink once more, Ash held it with both of his hands, letting his skin to feel the warmth it was producing. He looked into his drink.

"Let's go over there, and start over."

* * *

With the apartment falling into darkness and nothing but the passing cars to fill up the silence, Alain glanced at all his notes and how many mistakes he had written all over them. He collected each one and closed any books or idea he had coming form his desk and placed them away for the night.

Alain made his way to his laptop - hovering his mouse over the START button on his laptop. He saw the 'log off' button staring him down. Clicking the button to do so, Alain took a sigh of relief.

"Time to start from afresh, once again."


End file.
